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While eclipse watchers look to the skies, people who are blind or visually impaired will be able to hear and feel the celestial event.<\/p>\n
Sound and touch devices will be available at public gatherings on April 8, when a\u00a0total solar eclipse<\/a>\u00a0crosses North America, the moon blotting out the sun for a few minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cEclipses are very beautiful things, and everyone should be able to experience it once in their lifetime,\u201d said Yuki Hatch, a high school senior in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n Hatch is a visually impaired student and a space enthusiast who hopes to one day become a computer scientist for NASA. On eclipse day, she and her classmates at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired plan to sit outside in the school\u2019s grassy quad and listen to a\u00a0small device<\/a>\u00a0called a LightSound box that translates changing light into sounds.<\/p>\n When the sun is bright, there will be high, delicate flute notes. As the moon begins to cover the sun, the mid-range notes are those of a clarinet. Darkness is rendered by a low clicking sound.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to being able to actually hear the eclipse instead of seeing it,\u201d said Hatch.<\/p>\n The LightSound device is the result of a collaboration between Wanda D\u00edaz-Merced, an astronomer who is blind, and Harvard astronomer Allyson Bieryla. D\u00edaz-Merced regularly translates her data into audio to analyze patterns for her research.<\/p>\n A prototype was first used during the 2017 total solar eclipse that crossed the U.S., and the handheld device has been used at\u00a0other eclipses<\/a>.<\/p>\n This year, they are working with other institutions with the goal of distributing at least 750 devices to locations hosting eclipse events in Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. They held workshops at universities and museums to construct the devices, and provide DIY instructions on the group\u2019s website.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sky belongs to everyone. And if this event is available to the rest of the world, it has to be available for the blind, too,\u201d said D\u00edaz-Merced. \u201cI want students to be able to hear the eclipse, to hear the stars.\u201d<\/p>\n The Perkins Library \u2014 associated with the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts \u2014 plans to broadcast the changing tones of the LightSound device over Zoom<\/a> for members to listen online and by telephone, said outreach manager Erin Fragola.<\/p>\n In addition to students, many of the library\u2019s senior patrons have age-related vision loss, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe try to find ways to make things more accessible for everyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Others will experience the solar event through the sense of touch, with the Cadence<\/a> tablet from Indiana\u2019s Tactile Engineering. The tablet is about the size of a cellphone with rows of dots that pop up and down. It can be used for a variety of purposes: reading Braille, feeling graphics and movie clips, playing video games.<\/p>\n For the eclipse, \u201cA student can put their hand over the device and feel the moon slowly move over the sun,\u201d said Tactile Engineering\u2019s Wunji Lau.<\/p>\n The Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired started incorporating the tablet into its curriculum last year. Some of the school\u2019s students experienced last October\u2019s \u201cring of fire\u201d eclipse with the tablet.<\/p>\n Sophomore Jazmine Nelson is looking forward to joining the crowd expected at NASA\u2019s big eclipse-watching event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway<\/a>, where the tablet will be available.<\/p>\n With the tablet, \u201cYou can feel like you\u2019re a part of something,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Added her classmate Minerva Pineda-Allen, a junior. \u201cThis is a very rare opportunity, I might not get this opportunity again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSubscribe to the Eye on AI newsletter to stay abreast of how AI is shaping the future of business. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n